This is probably the only post I’ll write before 2012, so I’m making it a three part post. Here goes…
I will start with my sweet Layla. Her birthday was Saturday. Christmas Eve. We had birthday pancakes rather than a cake. We’re having a party for her in a couple of weeks, but she didn’t seem to mind one bit that she didn’t have cake on her actual birthday. She opened lots of presents from family as well as the gift Derrick and I got for her. Can I just tell you that she makes my heart sing with joy. She also makes me madder than a you know what sometimes, but for the most part, she’s so stinking cute and lovable. It’s hard to be mad at her. Derrick and I got her the Calico Critters dollhouse. Oh. my. goodness. She must have said a hundred times, “Oh, Daddy! Thank you! I wanted this forever! Oh! I love this! I have always wanted this dollhouse! Thank you!” She definitely wears her emotions on her sleeve, that girl. What a doll. The funny thing is that I don’t think she’d ever even seen that dollhouse. I just knew she would like it. Smart mommy, huh?
I am sentimental about her today because three years ago, I was in the waiting room at Egleston, holding onto hope as my one and a half day old daughter had heart surgery. You know the story and how well everything turned out, Praise God, but this time of year will always be extra sentimental for me. I’m so grateful for our sweet Layla and the joy and laughter she brings to our family. Here are a few pictures from that day that I remember so vividly. First, a picture of her before her surgery. She had not eaten a thing since the time she was born (the picture was taken about 33 hours later). They wouldn’t allow it since she had to have surgery. The next picture is me holding her before surgery. It was the first time I really got to hold her. Bless the nurses at Children’s. They knew how bad I wanted to hold my sweet baby girl. They were so good to us. The third picture is me giving her her first bottle, after surgery! Oh, it felt so good to feed her. I knew she was so hungry. She gulped it down and went right to sleep. Sweet Layla. Then there’s a picture of her this year! What a beauty!
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Part 2 – Our Memory Verse
It has not escaped me that I’m way behind on posting our final memory verse. I have had a hart time thinking of one that would be a good ending point. Plus, I haven’t stopped to sit down at my computer much in the last few days…or weeks.
So a memory verse? Let’s do one that I’ve always liked the sound of and one that sort of encompasses what we are to be doing as Christ lovers and followers.
“He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8, NIV 84
I hope you’ve enjoyed memorizing this year as much as I have. I finally got a bright idea this month to add the memory verse as a reminder on my iPhone, so it pops up every day at 3pm and I say it out loud to myself. I wish I would have thought about that in January! I’d love to hear if you had a creative way to memorize your verses. Thanks for taking this scripture journey with me. Maybe we’ll do it again soon. For now, I’m not even sure how much time I’ll have to blog as a mom of three busy little people, so I’m going to steer clear of commitments that I may or may not be able to keep.
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Part 3 – Christmas
Can you believe Christmas is over? Frankly, I cannot. December has been a blur of parties, shopping, and baking. Really too much of a blur. I found myself so not ready for Christmas to come, literally and emotionally. I love Christmas, and I’m mad at myself for letting it get so crazy this year. Derrick and I are going to sit down and debrief this week to figure out what we can change for next year. I really will do things differently next year. I won’t say that it will be calm or that I’ll finish my shopping in October, but I want to make a conscious effort to do more of what I love and less of what I don’t love and to be more time conscious so that I don’t get stuck at the last minute, buying gift cards from places I don’t even like, and wishing I had another month to prepare. I also want to do more focusing on Christ and the true message of Christmas and less focusing on buying more stuff. Feel free to hold me accountable.
Before the season is completely over, I want to post a few pictures from our December.
First, our tacky Christmas party. Wow, was it a hoot! I wish you could see close-ups of everyone’s outfits.
Next, pictures from my baking extravaganza. The first is a glimpse of the sugar and other goodness that went into the goodies I baked this year. I made fudge, several batches of chess squares, sugar cookie cutouts, cake batter truffles, sugar cookie truffles, peanut butter and ritz in vanilla bark coating, and my favorite peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. I’m going to be so spoiled when all the treats are gone. In fact, I’m tempted to make another batch of fudge tomorrow. And maybe chess squares too. I’m just not ready for them to be gone. My waistline isn’t keeping any secrets for me, though.
Then, a picture of the kiddos Saturday night, in their Christmas pjs, right before bed. I’m making it a tradition to give them a new pair of Christmas pjs on Christmas Eve. This year, I didn’t end up wrapping them, but they still were excited to get new pajamas. The matching pjs make for cute pictures, especially on Christmas morning!
Lastly, a picture of our tree this year. I have wanted a flocked tree for years. We went for it this year. I saw this beautiful flocked Virginia Pine at our local Christmas tree farm, and I fell in love. I scoured the farm for a good Virginia Pine and had them cut down the best one I could find. If you saw the back of this tree, you would laugh, but hey – that’s the beauty of having it in the window. No one is the wiser! I don’t know if I’ll go with a flocked tree again, but I do love the way it turned out. As an added bonus – I didn’t have to water the tree at all. When they flock it, it no longer needs water. Yay! Mine is usually so dead by mid-December, because I tend to forget.
Well, that’s it, folks. Thanks for sticking with me to the end of this post. Enjoy the rest of your December. It’s going to be a busy week for us, so I know I won’t be back here. I guess I’ll see you next year. Snort, snort. Seriously, though. Have a very Happy New Year. We will surely be ringing in 2012 with a bang. Or should I say with a princess?? That’s right. We are headed to DISNEY WORLD!! Whoo!
